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You might have a great product or an excellent service but your
business won't grow unless people know you're out there. That
requires marketing -- online, mobile, on Google, Facebook, direct
mail or even printed flyers on doorstep. But where do you begin?

It all starts with a marketing
plan. It's a written strategy to help achieve your goals and
spread the word about your startup.

Here are three apps that
can help you figure out your needs, understand your competition
and develop a cost-effective marketing
strategy :

1. Marketing Plan Premier
This comprehensive iPad app is both a fill-in-the-blank tool and
a mini-marketing text book. Marketing Plan Premier relies heavily on
the idea that all good businesses provide a solution to a
consumer problem. The initial steps involve defining that
problem and how your product solves it.

From there, the app helps you analyze your competitors, determine
your target market and come up with a price. Finally, the app
briefly runs you through options for advertising.

2. Marketing Plan App
If you don't need a lot of guidance, Marketing Plan App can get
you similar results in less time. The app is available for iOS and Android, and it's formatted to work with
the smaller, mobile phone screen.

This app can help you craft everything from your Vision Statement
and market analysis, to helping you determine your marketing
budget. After you fill in the blanks, save the document as a PDF
or Word doc, then email to export or print straight from your
device.

3. MarketMyBiz
This marketing plan app comes from a very unusual source: the
government of Australia. MarketMyBiz is a beautifully designed
app for the iPad or Android tablets. It isn't as wide-ranging
as Marketing Plan App, but the navigation structure is
intuitive and you won't get bogged down in boxes as you move
from page to page.

This app also includes a section that helps you discover your
weaknesses and helps you create a plan to address each one.

When you're finished, MarketMyBiz compiles your answers into one,
simple report that you can print from the tablet or email as a
PDF.

Price: Free

Which tools would you recommend for creating a
marketing plan? Let us know in the comments below.